Five Things We Learned from the Seahawks win over the Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII

1. Defense can still win championships in the NFL

Matthew Emmons, USA Today Sports

Perhaps the story of the 2013 NFL season, strictly speaking of things that went down on the football field, was a Denver Broncos offense that piled up points like a quick-thumbed teenager playing his grandmother at "Madden." With Peyton Manning at the trigger, the Broncos scored more points during the regular season than any team previously had. The Broncos averaged a ridiculous 37.9 points per game. Manning, who threw seven touchdown passes in a Week 1 win over the Ravens, established new single-season NFL records with 5,477 passing yards and 55 touchdowns. Four Broncos pass-catchers had double-digit receiving touchdowns and running back Knowshon Moreno rushed for 10 touchdowns, too. Their prolific offensive season was the latest indignity toward NFL defenses, which are pretty much playing with one hand tied behind their backs due to rule changes that have opened up the field for passing attacks. The proliferation of spread offenses has led to teams using three wide receivers on more than half the plays and quarterbacks are now throwing more than they ever have, helping NFL offenses to move the ball in big chunks up and down the field with relative ease. In recent years, teams like the Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers and, yes, even the 2012 Ravens, have relied on offense to win the Super Bowl. But a dominant performance from the Seattle Seahawks last night is proof that you can still win championships with defense in today's pass-happy, high-scoring NFL. The Seahawks responded to the challenge of defending the Broncos' video-game offense by hitting the console with a sledgehammer and ripping the power cord from the wall. They harassed Manning right from the start, disrupting him with a relentless pass rush that didn't need to sack him to make an impact. They pounded his wide receivers after the catch, giving up little ground. And with committing extra bodies, they were able to smother a Broncos running game that had taken advantage of soft boxes all season. Manning had just 10 passing yards in the first quarter and he threw a pair of first-half picks, including one that was returned for a touchdown by linebacker and Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith. When Smith crossed the goal line to put the Seahawks up, 22-0, the game was essentially over before halftime. The Seahawks finally yielded a touchdown on the final play of the third quarter, but in winning 43-8, they were the first team to hold their Super Bowl opponents to single digits since the 2000 Ravens. The Seahawks have a poised young quarterback and a couple of really dangers playmakers on offense who helped them blow out the Broncos, but score one for a Seattle defense that showed that the old line about defenses winning championships can still be more than a cliché in today¿ offense-friendly NFL.

Perhaps the story of the 2013 NFL season, strictly speaking of things that went down on the football field, was a Denver Broncos offense that piled up points like a quick-thumbed teenager playing his grandmother at "Madden." With Peyton Manning at the trigger, the Broncos scored more points during the regular season than any team previously had. The Broncos averaged a ridiculous 37.9 points per game. Manning, who threw seven touchdown passes in a Week 1 win over the Ravens, established new single-season NFL records with 5,477 passing yards and 55 touchdowns. Four Broncos pass-catchers had double-digit receiving touchdowns and running back Knowshon Moreno rushed for 10 touchdowns, too. Their prolific offensive season was the latest indignity toward NFL defenses, which are pretty much playing with one hand tied behind their backs due to rule changes that have opened up the field for passing attacks. The proliferation of spread offenses has led to teams using three wide receivers on more than half the plays and quarterbacks are now throwing more than they ever have, helping NFL offenses to move the ball in big chunks up and down the field with relative ease. In recent years, teams like the Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers and, yes, even the 2012 Ravens, have relied on offense to win the Super Bowl. But a dominant performance from the Seattle Seahawks last night is proof that you can still win championships with defense in today's pass-happy, high-scoring NFL. The Seahawks responded to the challenge of defending the Broncos' video-game offense by hitting the console with a sledgehammer and ripping the power cord from the wall. They harassed Manning right from the start, disrupting him with a relentless pass rush that didn't need to sack him to make an impact. They pounded his wide receivers after the catch, giving up little ground. And with committing extra bodies, they were able to smother a Broncos running game that had taken advantage of soft boxes all season. Manning had just 10 passing yards in the first quarter and he threw a pair of first-half picks, including one that was returned for a touchdown by linebacker and Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith. When Smith crossed the goal line to put the Seahawks up, 22-0, the game was essentially over before halftime. The Seahawks finally yielded a touchdown on the final play of the third quarter, but in winning 43-8, they were the first team to hold their Super Bowl opponents to single digits since the 2000 Ravens. The Seahawks have a poised young quarterback and a couple of really dangers playmakers on offense who helped them blow out the Broncos, but score one for a Seattle defense that showed that the old line about defenses winning championships can still be more than a cliché in today¿ offense-friendly NFL. (Matthew Emmons, USA Today Sports)

Much of the pre-game banter, not just on Super Sunday but in the two weeks leading up to the game, centered on Peyton Manning's legacy. Former jocks stuffed into expensive suits argued with each other on television sets about whether a win against the Seahawks would establish Manning as the greatest quarterback in NFL history and pondered what another postseason feature would do for his reputation. Manning will no doubt be remembered as one of the best to ever play the game, and his fingerprints will be all over the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. His name can be found throughout the record book and his impact on the game, most notably his brilliance before the snap ushering in an era in which many quarterbacks are now given the authority to change and tweak plays at the line of scrimmage, is undeniable. But it appears his career will always be listed with an asterisk of sorts, fair or not, as many will make the distinction that Manning was the best "regular-season quarterback" that has ever played. This season was kind of a microcosm of that notion. Manning just had the most prolific regular season a quarterback had ever had. He threw for 334.8 yards per game and averaged nearly three and a half touchdown passes. The Broncos outscored their opponents by 207 points. His brilliance stretched into the playoffs as they beat the San Diego Chargers and the New England Patriots. But the Seahawks made him look merely average. Manning often seemed uncomfortable in the pocket and more of his passes fluttered past their intended targets than we are used to seeing. Pressure was a factor in both of his interceptions, but Manning was uncharacteristically inaccurate in the Super Bowl. The final box score will forever show Manning completed 69.4 percent of his passes for 280 yards, but we will remember how misleading that was, that the Seahawks smothered him during another crushing postseason defeat. Manning will be back next season and may still play a couple of more after that. But it is clear that after the past couple of weeks, he will leave behind a complicated legacy if he doesn't win another Super Bowl. In the court of pigskin opinion, quarterbacks are measured by how many championships they have won. Despite lighting up defenses during the regular season year after year and going to the playoffs a bunch of times in his spectacular career, Manning has just one championship on his resume. An argument can still be made that he is the best quarterback ever. And one will be made that because of his brilliance and his impact on the game, his career will be a disappointment if he doesn't win the big one again. But there is no doubting that this debate about his legacy will rage on long after he retires.

Much of the pre-game banter, not just on Super Sunday but in the two weeks leading up to the game, centered on Peyton Manning's legacy. Former jocks stuffed into expensive suits argued with each other on television sets about whether a win against the Seahawks would establish Manning as the greatest quarterback in NFL history and pondered what another postseason feature would do for his reputation. Manning will no doubt be remembered as one of the best to ever play the game, and his fingerprints will be all over the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. His name can be found throughout the record book and his impact on the game, most notably his brilliance before the snap ushering in an era in which many quarterbacks are now given the authority to change and tweak plays at the line of scrimmage, is undeniable. But it appears his career will always be listed with an asterisk of sorts, fair or not, as many will make the distinction that Manning was the best "regular-season quarterback" that has ever played. This season was kind of a microcosm of that notion. Manning just had the most prolific regular season a quarterback had ever had. He threw for 334.8 yards per game and averaged nearly three and a half touchdown passes. The Broncos outscored their opponents by 207 points. His brilliance stretched into the playoffs as they beat the San Diego Chargers and the New England Patriots. But the Seahawks made him look merely average. Manning often seemed uncomfortable in the pocket and more of his passes fluttered past their intended targets than we are used to seeing. Pressure was a factor in both of his interceptions, but Manning was uncharacteristically inaccurate in the Super Bowl. The final box score will forever show Manning completed 69.4 percent of his passes for 280 yards, but we will remember how misleading that was, that the Seahawks smothered him during another crushing postseason defeat. Manning will be back next season and may still play a couple of more after that. But it is clear that after the past couple of weeks, he will leave behind a complicated legacy if he doesn't win another Super Bowl. In the court of pigskin opinion, quarterbacks are measured by how many championships they have won. Despite lighting up defenses during the regular season year after year and going to the playoffs a bunch of times in his spectacular career, Manning has just one championship on his resume. An argument can still be made that he is the best quarterback ever. And one will be made that because of his brilliance and his impact on the game, his career will be a disappointment if he doesn't win the big one again. But there is no doubting that this debate about his legacy will rage on long after he retires. (Lionel Hahn, MCT)